Barley Research

To introduce antifungal genes into barley,
biological research technician Robert Campbell
places barley tissue into the vacuum pressure
chamber of a gene-delivery device.Photo by Brian Prechtel, courtesy USDA.

There are a number of areas of research or potential research for barley. Some research addresses production issues such as stem strength, genomics, fungi, Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV), Fusarium head blight or scab (FHB), Barley stripe rust (BSR), tolerance to salinity, lodging, and pests (2, 3, 6, 8). Research on many of these pests and diseases can also benefit wheat, which has the same susceptibilities (6).

Other research is being carried out on the nutritional and potential health benefits of barley (10).